Replies

Thank you Mary, that explains some nice tips.

But I simply don’t understand why anyone would use OneNote.  What does it do that can’t be done better in other ways?

RobB

RobB

Good luck with the move, DMT3904.

By the way, I forgot to mention that I have made extensive use of PKCano’s wonderful articles, which are extremely helpful. Thanks again PKC.

If you are going to move to a Mac, DMT3904, do yourself a favour and learn some essential shortcuts, per below.

RobB

Apple has published an extensive list of Mac Keyboard Shortcuts{https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201236}, but it is far too long, so here are the ones it is reccomended Mac users  learn as soon as possible:

• Command+Space: Launches Spotlight
• Holding Down Command+Space Launches Siri
• Command+Tab: Quickly cycles through active apps (similar to ALT+Tab on Windows)
• Command+H Quickly hides an app window (clicking on the app icon in the Dock restores the app window)
• Command+Q: Quits an app
• Spacebar after selecting a file in Finder: Launches Quick Look for the selected file.
• Command+Open+Esc: Force Quit an app (similar to Control+ALT+Delete on Windows)
• Command+C: Copy text
• Command+V: Paste text
• Command+X: Cut text
• Command+B: Bold
• Command+I Italics
• Command+P: Print a document
• Command+S: Save a document
• Command+T: Open a new tab
• Command+Shift+4  Take a screenshot of a section of the screen and put it on the clipboard to paste into a document (or
• Command+N: Open a new Finder window
• Shift+Command+N: Create a new folder in the Finder
• Command+Delete: Move a file to the Trash

This is my personal most useful list (Sorry about the formatting – I don’t know how to make it work here!):
Essential Apple Shortcuts
Function                                                                                                         Shortcut

Euro € symbol Word & Excel                                                                       Shift + Optn +2

GBP £ symbol Word & Excel                                                                       Optn +3

Plus Minus ± symbol                                                                                      Shift +1

At @ symbol                                                                                                   Shift + 2

Hash # symbol                                                                                                Shift + 3

Create a new Finder window (when in Finder)                                              Cmd+N

Copy File Path to clipboard (in Finder).  Select file                                       Rt Click, Copy path…

Increase font size to print from Apple Mail                                                    Cmd and +

Tab between open windows of a program (e.g.  Word, Excel)         Cmd + ~  (or ` [grave])
Keep pressed to scroll thru

Tab (or scroll) between open program windows                                            Cmd + Tab

Minimise all open windows                                                                                      Cmd+F3

Hide/Minimise the current program.                                                              Command+H

See all open windows, by shrinking them to separate parts of screen            F3

Close a window                                                                                              Cmd+W

Close all windows                                                                                           Optn+-Cmd+W

Close the current program.                                                                              Command+Q

Snip a picture of selected area and save to desktop where a Thumbnail will appear. (Select target with mouse, then release keys.)        Shift + Cmd +4

Snip a picture of selected area and save to clipboard where is held in memory, ready to paste. (Select target with mouse, then release keys.)   Ctrl +Shift + Cmd +4

Video a screenshot as you watch a video or move the cursor etc.                  Shift + Cmd + 5

Select multiple items: Press & hold the Cmd key, then click each item        Cmd key, then click items

Select All items.                                                                                              Cmd+A

Select multiple items: Press & hold the Cmd key, then click each item        Cmd key, then click items

Undo the last action                                                                                         Cmd+Z

Copy the selected item to the Clipboard                                                         Cmd+C

Cut the selected item and copy it to the Clipboard                                        Cmd+X

Paste the contents of the Clipboard into the current document or app          Cmd+V

Copy the selected item by dragging to new location (e.g.  in Finder)
(The pointer changes to a + while you drag the item.)                                   Optn key + drag

Save As                                              Optn+Shift+ Cmd+S   or Optn + File Menu

Save a document                                                                                             Cmd+S

Print a document                                                                                             Cmd+P

Copy File Path to clipboard (in Finder).  Select file                                       Rt Click, Copy path…

Increase font size to print from Apple Mail                                                    Cmd and +

Redo the last action                                                                                         Shift+Cmd+Z

Jump to beginning of a line                                                                            Cmd+Left Arrow

Jump to far right end of a line                                                                          Cmd+Right Arrow

Jump to beginning of current word                                                                 Optn+Left Arrow

Jump to end of current word                                                                            Optn+Right Arrow

Jump to beginning of all text                                                                           Cmd+Up Arrow

Jump to end of all text                                                                                     Cmd+Down Arrow.

Find items in a document or open a Find window.                                        Cmd+F

Show the Get Info window for a selected file in Finder or desktop.              Cmd+I

Scroll through pictures in a folder.              Select a picture file in finder, press Space bar to open Quick Look, then Up/Down arrows to scroll thru all.

To move a file instead of just copying it:

1. Use Command-C to copy the file.
2. Use Option +Cmd +V to paste it.
3. This will <u>move</u> the file to its new location rather than just copying it (A really annoying habit of Apple’s, which constantly creates duplicated files everywhere if you forget “Option”, particularly if you share directories with another user.).

 

 

RobB

Dear All

I don’t want to take away from the wonderful job that has been done by PCKano in his Mac Guide for Windows Users Wanting to Switch, but I feel I ought to add my pennyworth of thoughts to the discussion, for two reasons:

First, I am a long-time Windows user, since the early 1990s, although I have dabbled with Macs a little.  Everybody who had a mac kept telling me how great macs were, and how easy to use, including very computer literate people that I greatly respect.   And more and more I was getting annoyed with Microsoft, their arrogant ways, and all the problems that users of this forum are so familiar with.  So, instead of upgrading from Win XP at home, (which I loved, and was still using at home long after it ran out of support) and Windows 7 at Work, I bought a beautiful new iMac for the home.

Second, I have just suffered the change over at work from Windows 7 to Windows 11, so I can see first hand how Microsoft has made an absolute hash of its upgrades.  The change is dramatic, and rather unpleasant, to put it mildly, particularly if one has spent a lot of time customising one’s old PC, using macros etc.

My opinion. One cannot fault the quality of the Mac hardware, which is beautiful. Generally speaking, the regular updates and the programs are not too bad. Macshave a lot in common with Windows programs (They keep stealing ideas off each other) and presumably one can gradually get used to a mac.  But I warn you, it takes a <u>long, long</u> time. I have tried really, really hard, constantly researching how to do things, and yet, after 3 years, I still feel completely at sea, as if I am a rank beginner.  So many short-cuts and key functions are different from Windows. There is lots to dislike about the Mac, because one knows that so often there is a better way to do things – either the Windows Way (and it hurts me to admit that, because of the way Microsoft behaves), or else one can find an add on program for Windows that can be installed to do it for you.    It is the myriad of little things in a Mac, that trip one up constantly, that are so annoying.
Just a few examples.  Why is there no “Save As”  menu item, unless one presses the Option key as well as Command+S?  Why can’t you simply scroll through one’s list of photos the way one can on Windows? Almost everything takes twice as many steps.  Why can’t I change the log in screen away from the horrible Mac colours? . Why Does Apple Mail print so badly – i.e. so small?  Forget about Apple’s Numbers and Pages (the equivalent of Excel and Word); they are useless in comparison.  Outllok has so many ridiculous flaws.  But try using Apple mail. It is amateurish in comparison.  Yes, Apple provides the cloud, but it is just a clever way to suck more money out of you – one is forced to pay to add capacity, because their back-ups hog so much space.  If you plug in a USB to take copies of some files, why does Apple litter the USB with other little random files?  Have you tried using an Apple mouse or Keyboard?  So pretty. So terrible to use in comparison to the basic Windows ones. So, one changes one’s mouse, but then the software is not fully compatible!  And, boy oh boy, will you be lost in the all the new names for programs.  Apple has this wonderful forum where, yes you can ask questions.  But don’t dare even mildly criticise anything about Apple or its software. – the AI algorithm or site invigilator will shut down/delete your post so quickly you won’t know what has happened.  The whole Apple approach is to control you and lock down everything, far more than in Windows. It becomes extremely irritating when one is used to the “freedom” of Windows.

But what about the New Windows 11.  Well, three months since I changed over, I still curse Microsoft for making my life more complicated, instead of making it easier. In my opinion there is nothing, not a single thing, that is better in Windows 11 than Windows 7 (or even Windows XP), except for a very few hidden security features.  99% of all the stuff they have added in the last 10 years is a waste of time. Bloatware is such an appropriate description! The start menu is screwed up. The desktop is rubbish. The colour schemes are horrendous. The task bar is ruined and won’t go to the top (but at least I can find a replacement – I can’t change the Apple one!)  etc. etc.  But, you, the reader, knows the Microsoft flaws.

So, bottom line – there are many advantages to both Apple and Windows, and lots and lots of disadvantages to each. The change-over from Windows to Apple Mac is much, much more difficult, and time consuming, than one would expect, and it raises one’s blood pressure dramatically!  The change-over of a Windows upgrade is almost as bad as changing to an Apple, but not quite.  So, if you are thinking of changing from Windows to Apple, for goodness sake, research it very carefully. I suggest you start by reviewing web sites that comment on Apple’s flaws and faults, not those which hype Apple (like most do).

RobB

RobB

Microsofts video on copilot at https://news.microsoft.com/reinventing-productivity/

It’s really ironic (and frightening, and sickening) how Satya Nadella has the cheek to say how we all have a collective obligation to use AI responsibly, and yet Microsoft is the most greedy, abusive corporation out there, forcing everyone onto a grossly inflated subscription model that does nothing for mankind, destroys years of work we have done by changing the user interface, and generally abusing its users.

Jared Spataro says “we spend too much time consumed by the drudgery of work, on tasks that zap our time, creativity and energy. At times the very tools that should make us productive, seem to get in the way!”
Yet Microsoft itself is responsible for so much of that drudgery, forcing us to deal with the ‘bloatware” and unnecessary changes that Microsoft has introduced to all its software, from Windows, through Office 365, to its most complex programs.

He claims Microsoft 365 Copilot is built upon Microsoft’s comprehensive approach to security, compliance and privacy. But if Microsoft really had a “comprehensive approach to security, compliance and privacy”, why would there be so many flaws in its software which need constant patching; why would there be so many areas where Microsoft records what you are doing and sends the data back to Redmond? And compliance with what?

I cannot think of a more useless bit of wasted coding effort than Microsoft 365 Copilot! Who would genuinely be happy with that sort of c**p?

RobB

1 user thanked author for this post.

Mothy

And, to add to Richard Merchant’s comments about Eudora, In my opinion it was by far the best email program I have ever used. Certainly the best settings layout and user interface.

But killed by corporate greed and the failure to move forward, so I can’t use it anymore. Too far behind.

RobB

I seldom comment in this forum. In fact I don’t think I have ever. But your latest newsletter, Issue 19.48, is a masterpiece and deserves serious praise for taking us behind the scenes. And I can only add my sincere thanks and praise to that recorded above for all the excellent hard work and effort Susan and Will both put in. Well done!

Please keep it up and long may it last. Definitely well worth subscribing!!

Robb

RobB

1 user thanked author for this post.

Will Fastie

Re Proton, (Paid I think) they have a “bridge” so you can download emails to your PC if you wish.  It is a bit fiddly, though, and their web GUI is quite poor.

They have 5 or 6 alias email addresses in the paid version, but I found it very difficult to manage so many and was always replying or writing using the wrong address.

You can also use your own domain, if you have one.

But they have a very responsive and friendly Help desk, and I love their attitude towards security and freedom.

In reply to Richard about Eudora – That was the best.

RobB

I have been using ESET for years on my PC, Laptop and Samsung phone.
I can’t comment on its capabilities because I have not compared it against any others. But it has caught lots of threats for me.
The thing I particularly like is its excellent service response turnaround. I never have to wait long. And its annual renew process is excellent.
Its user interface is simple but gets more and more complex as one delves in.
My only complaint – the “Check for Updates” link is located at the bottom of the screen, and always seems to be off the page on my laptop screen.

RobB

1 user thanked author for this post.

Kathy Stevens

Well I used a made up name and email and was allowed to register and complete the test. Well almost – I got as far as “99% complete”, but there was no way to proceed to 100% and get a final report. All I could do is go into my profile and read the answers to my questions and get their feedback answer to each question. But that covers 9 different pages and there is no simple PDF to download that consolidates and shows everything and giving an overall score (Not that an overall score actually means very much – a weakness is a weakness).

But as someone mentioned above – they are good valid questions and their feedback is usefull.

RobB

Elly wrote:

privacy and being anonymous have an important function

Hear hear!

Woody is incredibly generous with his time, which is why I have paid and registered.

But I fully support anyone who wishes to remain anonymous.  I quite agree with his first post where he said “I still think the ability to post anonymously is a key capability here on the Lounge.”

But I think Woody could turn it around and instead of personally checking or having every anonymous post checked, he should rely on the users.  If instead of two, there were three buttons at the bottom of each posting, i.e. “Thanks”, “Quote” and “Complain” or “offensive post” or similar, then only those posts that readers complain about would be referred to the site invigilators for review and/or removal.  Probably a much smaller volume than they are checking now.

Keep up the great work

RobB

I would add my 2 bits in support of Directory Opus

It is probably a bit too complex for my needs, but it has everything I need and the support is incredible.

 

RobB

1 user thanked author for this post.

DKThompson

Thanks for the joke Anonymous! Tickled my sense of humour.

Just a thought – Could “The Shadow Brokers” be Microsoft programmers trying to force all remaining Windows XP And Windows 7 users to upgrade?

After all Microsoft “knew” about the flaw, which is why they released the patch!

RobB

Thanks for all your efforts, Woody, and everyone else.

As  reasonably computer literate newbie to this lounge/forum, with responsibility for updating the 3 computers in our small office, I read all this with mounting amazement, mixed in with a little horror, at how Microsoft behaves and manages its updates. No wonder there are so many fixes from Microsoft if this is the way they manage things!

For now, however, I shall uncheck and patiently wait for it to go away!

Edit: html to text

RobB